The Changing Room
by Lyrical Rex
Summary: Slash, Het, Mostly TroyRyan and SharpayZeke, and a little TroyGabi. High school metamorphoses in ten parts.


**Notes: **I'm not incredibly new to the fandom, but this is my second piece for HSM, besides a character sketch I wrote some forever ago. So, hello everybody!

**This story contains** Slash AND Het, a little Troy/Gabriella, a little Sharpay/Zeke, and a LOT of Troy/Ryan. This is an unauthorized sequel to **Bite Your Tongue** by _Song Birdy. _Or rather, an admirer's addition to it. This story can stand on it's own, but Bite Your Tongue is really good, so I suggest reading it.

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High School Metamorphoses in Ten Parts.

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**The Changing Room**

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_i._

Gabriella thought that maybe, maybe if they did _it_, their relationship would lose that hollow feeling, the feeling that something was missing. It didn't.

They were still the golden couple. Troy still walked her to class. He still sent her notes with hearts and leaned in for a quick kiss at her locker, but since that Friday night—gasping and grasping and trading I love yous—Gabriella was less inclined to physical attention from him. Her first time was meant to be perfect and beautiful. Not twelve minutes in her jeans on the sofa, Disney musical playing in the background.

When Troy tried to put his arms around her, Gabriella remembered: his hands on her bare skin; his face contorted in concentration; his body moving to a different rhythm than hers. She stepped back, making a quick excuse about class before walking away.

_ii._

Theater had become a constant in Troy's life, and with it—in all his flamboyant and fashionable glory—came Ryan Evans. It was impossible to change costumes in the same room as Ryan without risking a peep, which turned into a long stare until Ryan caught him, caught his lips and hips in one aggressive thrust. Troy's arms remained tied in the sleeves of Arnold's sweater vest, pressed between their naked chests though he returned Ryan's kisses feverishly. Pressed up against the wall, Ryan's hands grazing his ribs, Troy forgot about the world.

It was never like this with Gabriella.

_iii._

Trembling fingers edged across Sharpay's collarbone, stopping tentatively at her dress strap.

"Are you sure you want this?" Zeke half whispered, though they had the bedroom to themselves.

Sharpay stretched her body above his, arching her neck back to give Zeke a better view of her dress's neckline. His loud swallow made her smile; his first time, and he was scared out of his wits. "_Yes_," she emphasized, leaning down to kiss his lips softly. "I want _you." _She spread her palms out across Zeke's hard chest and felt his heart pumping as rapidly as her own. This was Sharpay's first time really making love. She was scared too.

_iv. _

"We've changed," Gabriella confessed, her back to Troy as she looked out from Garden Club's gazebo. She let her eyes sweep over Albuquerque's skyline before turning around to face him. "Or maybe there was nothing there in the first place."

"Gabriella," he pleaded, reaching for her shoulder. She jerked away.

"I don't think," she started and stopped. Chewing her lip, she started again: "I don't think I love you _that_ way."

Troy's brow furrowed in confusion. "But we already. . ."

Gabriella focused on a point beyond Troy's ear rather than his eyes. "That's the problem. I didn't want it, not like that. It was supposed to be sweet and romantic, but it wasn't." Gently, she pushed Troy further away from her. "I loved you like a friend, but now I don't want to be near you. I hope you understand." Without waiting for his reply, Gabriella retreated into the school, taking the stairs two at a time.

_v_.

Ryan looked over the top of his magazine when Sharpay waltzed into his room, her hands over her chest as if trying to contain her beating heart. Setting his tabloid aside, Ryan sat up on his bed to give his sister room to fall back onto the brightly striped covers. "I take it that everything went well?"

Sharpay stretched her arms over her head, looking up at him with an uncharacteristically goofy grin. "I love him," she confessed to Ryan. "He's amazing."

"That's great, Sharpay." Ryan threaded his fingers through his sister's long locks, absently grooming her like he used to when they were younger and inseparable. His voice softened; "I'm happy for you."

Sharpay rolled to her side, curling to get her legs onto the bed as well as to get a clearer view of her brother's fragile smile. She reached up and cupped his hand. "You'll find someone too. Just give it time."

Ryan's smile lifted slightly. "Well, if you could find someone who can put up with _you. . ."_

"Ryan!" Sharpay exclaimed. Ryan dodged her playful swats, laughing.

_vi._

When Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton ran into each other at the center of the cafeteria, the entire hall quieted. She shuffled to the left as he stepped in the same direction. She tried to pass him on the right, but he stepped that way as well. Finally he chuckled nervously, stepping aside to let Gabriella pass him with a small smile. A sudden bout of whispers echoed in the hall as she took her seat beside Martha and Taylor, leaving Troy to return to his own table. The golden couple of East High was officially no more.

_vii._

After an awkward Twinkle Towne rehearsal—where Gabriella relinquished her role to Sharpay, who Troy found even harder to work with—Troy returned to his and Ryan's dressing room earlier than usual. Mistake; Ryan was already there with Jacob, an unobtrusive freshman whose coke bottle glasses clattered to the ground just as Troy shut the door behind him. Jacob was nervously following Ryan's lead as they made out, hands awkwardly placed on Ryan's biceps, Ryan's hand at the small of Jacob's back. A sick feeling coiled in Troy's belly, which he firmly ignored in favor of mechanically changing into his street clothes.

With all his focus on buttoning his shirt, Troy didn't notice the noises and husky whispers Ryan and Jacob exchanged nor the door shutting moments later. But then Ryan settled his hands on Troy's hips, his soft lips brushing over the nape of Troy's neck. Troy stiffened. Noticing this, Ryan began nipping and lapping at Troy's sensitive skin.

Troy leaned into Ryan, enjoying the feel of Ryan's mouth and Ryan's fingers slipping under his waistband. "What happened to Jacob?" he wanted to know.

"I told him I'd meet up with him later."

"Are you going to?" Troy gasped between increasingly ragged breaths. Ryan's hands, _there_, were driving him mad.

"Probably not," Ryan shrugged. Troy didn't know why he was relieved, but even that feeling was brushed away by Ryan's touch.

_viii._

Sharpay checked the time on her jeweled cell phone and tapped he toe impatiently. When Ryan finally came out of the dressing room, Sharpay let out an exasperated sigh. "_There_, you are," she chided, crossing her arms as her brother came towards her, tugging at his newsboy cap with a satisfied expression. "If you insist on being late, I'll just have Zeke drive me home instead."

"Geez, sis," Ryan responded with a raised eyebrow. "You could be a little happier. You did just got Gabriella's part."

With a dramatic huff, Sharpay turned her heel and began walking out the door. "Well, I don't appreciate having to wait while you fool around." Ryan just laughed and quickened his pace to reach the glass doors of the school before his sister, graciously holding it open for her. As she walked past him, she paused and set a slim hand on his shoulder. Ryan's bright expression turned confused as Sharpay's eyes softened. "Does he make you happy? Because if he doesn't, you know I will make his life miserable."

Ryan gave her a look, like she had just confessed that she was secretly a male drag queen only posing as his sister. "I don't know who you're talking about."

"Please," Sharpay scoffed. "Didn't think I wouldn't notice that Troy Bolton stays behind longer than any other guy? That the other boys have been paying less visits to your dressing room? That after school you wear waxier hair gel?" Ryan automatically put his hands to his hat covered head, making Sharpay laugh. "Don't worry," she teased, tweaking her brother's nose. "I only started noticing when your hair stopped fluttering in the wind when we were using the high powered fan during dance lessons. You really should stop using his gel though." With a devious Sharpay-style smirk, she started walking to their car.

"Again, I question, who?" Ryan asked as he followed her, continuing to play oblivious.

She rolled her eyes. "Deny it if you want, just make sure he doesn't hurt you," she assured him.

_ix. _

"I have something to tell you." The look on Troy's face was so apologetic and torn that Gabriella couldn't not hear him out. She gripped the books tighter in her arms, tilting her head in a cautious, questioning manner. Troy bit his lip (still adorably, she noted) before glancing over his shoulder at the students streaming around them on their way to their classes. He screwed his eyes shut, and blurted, "I'm gay." He squinted one eye open, to see Gabriella's reaction.

Gabriella's grip slackened on her books, hoping Troy had not just said what she heard. Taking an anticipating breath, she asked, "Can you elaborate?"

"I wanted to apologize for what I did to you; I'm such a screw up, I thought that if we did that, things would be okay between us. Not just okay, but, you know, better." Troy took a deep breath and slowed down. "I mean, you were great and everything but . . ."

"I know," Gabriella assured him, touching his arm for comfort. "I'm. . . I'm hurt beyond belief. Thank you for telling me though."

Maybe it was the tears welling in her eyes, but Troy's expression seemed even more torn as he took her hand. "Can we still be friends? I miss you so much."

"Maybe," Gabriella replied, pulling away. "Eventually. I miss you too." She tried to smile. Then she left for class.

_x._

"So when are you going to quit the chorus boys?" Troy asked awkwardly as he and Ryan pulled on their clothes. Ryan narrowed his eyes at the brunet, slowly buttoning his shirt. At his suspicious gaze, Troy stuttered, "I mean, aren't you tired of having no strings attached? Even Sharpay's settled down."

Ryan turned to the mirror, fixing his hair with Troy's comb and hair gel. "Not really," he answered conversationally. "Sure, it's great that Shar found Mr. Right. Doesn't mean I have to cut off my dick and go celibate too."

"Oh." Troy hastily caught his things as Ryan tossed them in his direction, nearly letting his tub of gel crash to the ground. He shoved them away and shouldered his bag, waiting for Ryan to finish packing up so they could leave the theater together. "Have you ever considered it?"

Ryan laughed as he righted his hat and led the way out of the dressing room. "There are a couple guys who have made me consider it. But let's face it: all my flings start and end in that closet back there. None of those guys I've had would fess up and actually _be _with me, even if I wanted them too."

"Not true," Troy protested, counting on his fingers. "Like, Micheal would do anything for you. And Jacob idolizes you."

Ryan dismissed the suggestions with a wave. "Theater boys. I've had them, I know all about them. They're easy. I want some kind of challenge, some change in scenery. Maybe, I don't know, a jock?"

"You've had me," Troy pointed out. The blond put on a mock air of surprise.

"You? A jock? No way," he teased. "I couldn't tell, what with all the dancing and singing."

They walked to the student parking lot, where Troy's broken down pickup sat beside Ryan's shiny Mercedes, a ridiculous contrast in the otherwise empty landscape. As they opened the doors of their respective cars, Troy turned to Ryan to say one last thing. "We're playing two-on-two at my house tomorrow, and since Zeke is off with your sister, poor Chad doesn't have a partner. Do you want to come over? You can scope out some hot jocks," Troy added, with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"Sure!" Ryan chirped. He seemed pleased to be included in something, his pretty mouth turning up at the corners. Troy had a fleeting urge to leap over the Mercedes and kiss the corners of that smile. Ryan looked that much more beautiful in sunlight, so it went to reason he would taste sweeter in fresh air too.

"So I'll call you later?" he asked instead.

"I'm looking forward to it."

_end.

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_Thank you for reading!  
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